View across the Outer Harbour of Stornoway

Friday 29 April 2011

Friday 29 April

Today saw the wedding between Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey in London. The happy couple are now known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in England and Wales, and the Earl and Countess of Strathearn in Scotland. About a million people lined the streets of London to wish the bridal couple well. I have expressed my cynicism about the hype surrounding royal wedding in previous weeks, but will go so far as to wish them well for the future.

It has been a bright and sunny day in Stornoway, with the mercury up to 17C / 63F. The streets were quiet on a Sunday scale. Although shops were open, there were not many people about when I was on a walk around the harbour. A cement boat was unloading its cargo, and fishermen seeing to their boats.

Last night's rush hour in Stornoway was exacerbated by a carfire on Macaulay Road, the main thoroughfare into town from the north. The vehicle's engine compartment caught light at the Manor Roundabout, causing lengthy tailbacks on all the routes into town (minus the one from the airport which comes in from the east).  Nobody was injured in the incident.

Thursday 28 April

The day started misty with low cloud over the Arnish hills. As the hours went by, the cloud lifted and the weather brightened up a little. There is much talk about the Scottish elections (due next week), with debates involving local candidates on TV, radio and the Internet. There is so much sitting going on on that fence, it's a miracle it hasn't collapsed yet. But then, their calibre does not warrant much concern in that direction. Tomorrow is Royal Wedding day, and I've already had enough. It's not likely I'll watch much of it - I watched the 1981 wedding between Charles and Diana, and we all know what tragedies ensued from that. Yes, the result of that match is now getting wed himself, 30 years later. No, I'm not British, as you all know. But neither did I watch the Dutch Royal Wedding in 2002, which was fraught with controversy, after the bride's dad was found to be involved with the infamous Argentinian junta under which people kept disappearing.